


What’s Left Of Us Now

by Serie11



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Getting Together, Love Confessions, Multi, Post-Kingdom Hearts II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22606501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: After Sora and Riku fall from the sky, everyone heads back to Disney Castle so Riku can be properly healed. While he's resting, Sora and Kairi make some discoveries.
Relationships: Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 52
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	What’s Left Of Us Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spoke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoke/gifts).



Kairi sits on the ground, heedless of how the sand is wet and clumpy and sticks to anything that touches it. She really couldn’t care less at the moment.

Riku smiles up at her, but it’s really more of a grimace. She squeezes his hand slightly, trying to reassure him.

King Mickey waves his Keyblade over Riku again, and another wave of green healing magic washes over him. Behind her, Sora turns another track in the sand. Both boys had been exhausted after falling from the sky, and Sora had admitted that he doesn’t have any healing magic left in him. Thankfully, King Mickey and Donald still have enough left to help stabilise Riku.

“Heal!” Donald cries out. Riku clenches his jaw as his face pales. Kairi hears something creak, and Riku’s grip tightens even further. Any more and she’s not sure that her fingers are going to be getting any blood.

“Are you okay Riku?” Sora asks, hovering behind her. Riku doesn’t reply, and King Mickey casts another wave of magic over him – Riku’s eyes fly open and he makes a cut off noise, before he suddenly goes completely lax.

“Riku!” Kairi and Sora yell in unison.

“He’s gonna be fine,” King Mickey says. “I just cast a spell that put him to sleep for a while. His injuries are too bad for us to heal here.”

“Then what’s going to happen?” Kairi asks, heart suddenly thumping in her ears.

“Luckily, I know a really good healer,” King Mickey chirps. “My wife Minnie should be able to fix him up in no time!”

“We can take the gummi ship,” Donald quacks.

Kairi feels light headed, all of a sudden – until Sora puts his hand on her shoulder.

“We can come with you guys, right?” Sora asks, and King Mickey turns to them.

“Of course! We wouldn’t leave you here while Riku was in such a bad state. Having his precious people around him will be important for him to heal.”

Kairi can breathe again, suddenly, but she can’t say anything. Her free hand flexes in the sand, and the hand holding Riku is probably gripping him as tightly as he had been gripping her.

King Mickey waves his Keyblade again, and Donald runs over to where Goofy has been standing as a lookout. Riku starts floating, and Sora pulls her back gently. She lets go of Riku’s hand reluctantly, watching as it goes back next to his body.

“Goofy has the keys to the gummi ship,” Sora tells her. He pulls her around to face him, and she folds her hands in front of her. “He normally carries it because me and Donald have lost them a few times!”

When she looks up at him, he’s smiling but there’s a shadow on his face. Neither he nor Riku said exactly what they went through, just that Xemnas is gone – but they must have fought him, and it must have been a tough fight. Sora is flat out of magic, and Riku’s injuries are serious, and she wasn’t there for any of it –

She grabs him, arms winding around him tightly. They’re still the same height, and Sora sighs deeply as his arms encircle her. She buries her head against his neck and closes her eyes. They’re here – they’re home, they’re back, they’re standing in front of her, and she still can’t quite believe it. Sora cards his fingers into her hair and she resists the urge to collapse against him. She doesn’t even know how he’s standing at the moment, and she doesn’t need to lean her weight onto him. She has to find the strength inside her to stand on her own feet.

She lets him go, and Sora’s smile is a little more genuine now. He looks over her shoulder and points. “See! There’s the ship. Are you okay to go, Kairi?”

“Yes,” she says, looking up at it. It’s like a collection of blocks, stacked together awkwardly to make the outline of a ship. She remembers fleeing from Hollow Bastion to Traverse Town all that time ago. She still doesn’t know how that can take her to another world, but if Sora says it can take her, she believes him.

King Mickey is already half way across the beach, Riku floating behind him. Sora reaches out his hand, and Kairi takes it. She doesn’t hesitate when it comes to her turn to step into the ship – she’s not being left behind by her boys again.

* * *

The castle grounds are vibrant, green and lush. Kairi runs her hand across a leaf of a bush, feeling the texture. It’s different to anything she might feel at home – this place probably isn’t near the sea.

Queen Minnie had taken Riku into a special healing chamber as soon as they’d arrived. Sora had gone inside too, apparently far more exhausted than Kairi had thought. He’s getting his own healing session, and Kairi had been told that there’s nothing for her to do but wait.

Again.

She moves onto the next plant, examining it critically. This one has a type of flower that she’s never seen before, red and bulbous, a light orange in the centre. She leans in to smell it, but it isn’t very aromatic. She touches a leaf, rubbing it between her fingers. It’s rougher than the other plant – have these been planted specifically? Perhaps they’re not all from around here.

She’s been around near the entirety of the perimeter. She can see the plant that she started with, a thorny rose bush. Her fingers are still smarting from where she’d gotten a bit stuck and the thorns had pricked her. The next bush she looks at has been carefully cultivated into a figure of a person, although she doesn’t know who.

“Kairi!”

She turns on the spot, nearly falling over because of how fast she moves. Sora is jogging over from the castle entrance, and there’s a perkiness to his step that wasn’t there before. He reaches her and puts his hands behind his neck, grinning widely.

“Sora! Are you feeling better?”

“Definitely.” Sora stretches his arms out in front of him, and then summons his Keyblade to perform a few experimental slashes. “I feel like I could go another round! Maybe not with Xemnas, but you know. A few normal Heartless. The Queen is awesome, she did this whole light faith pillar thing, and then I couldn’t see anything but light and it felt like I was just floating in it, and them bam! I had a lot of energy again. The Queen said that I’d probably want to nap in like, an hour, but for now I’m feeling pretty normal.” He grins widely, putting his hands behind her head again. She misses seeing him in that pose, carefree and calm.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. Is the Queen working on Riku now?”

“Pretty sure,” Sora says, bending to look at the flowers on the bush in front of them. “She’s great, so don’t worry about Riku. He’ll be fine.”

Kairi bites her lip and moves to the bench in the middle of the garden. Sora sits down beside her, even though he fidgets slightly. That’s like him – always impatient. She remember sitting next to him in school and being fascinated by all the things he would do to distract himself – draw, make paper planes, toss balls of paper across the room to Riku or Tidus. Not that she’d been much better, honestly.

“I hope it doesn’t take too long,” Kairi mumbles. “It’s been forever since all three of us could just sit down somewhere and talk. More than a year, really.”

“Yeah,” Sora says, despondent. “I was sleeping for ages… and I still don’t know why, really. I was going to ask Riku about that too, but there never seemed to be time. But hey, soon we’ll have all the time we need! I promise.”

He’s grinning, but it’s not the expression she remembers. He’s grown, a _lot_ , since she last saw him. And not just physically. His motions are smoother, and he carries himself with confidence that was never there before. She hardly recognises him, except for the fact that his voice sounds the same when he says her name.

She fiddles with her zipper so she doesn’t have to look at him. Sora knocks their knees together and puts both his hands on the bench, leaning backwards slightly.

“Is there anything you want to talk about? Now?” Sora asks, and it’s quiet, focused. She looks at him and his eyes are dark and she can tell that he’s really listening. She drops her zipper to squeeze her hands together tightly in her lap.

“I don’t know,” she admits. “I feel… I don’t know what I feel.”

Sora knits his eyebrows together. “Well, I’m here if you figure it out. I’m listening.”

He’s still looking at her, eyes deep and blue. Kairi knows, suddenly, what she wants.

“Sora,” she says, hesitantly.

“Yeah?” he asks, quirking a smile at her.

She leans over towards him and puts her hand on his cheek. Sora blinks as she gets closer, but there’s comprehension dawning when she closes her eyes and softly kisses his lips. Sora’s hands land on her shoulders, and she smiles as she tilts her head slightly. When she pulls away there’s a slightly awestruck expression on Sora’s face, which he quickly blinks away in favour of mostly looking stunned.

“Oh… Kairi–”

“I have to tell you something,” she says in a rush, over the top of him. Sora nods once, and she takes a breath. He hadn’t been against the kiss, but she’s going to say something that might upset him, so she isn’t going to take his reciprocation for granted.

“I’m listening,” Sora says again, and Kairi wonders when he grew up. Probably when she wasn’t there to see it.

“I like you,” she says, words that had been bottled up in her throat now pouring out of her, muddled and ineloquent. “I really do. I missed you – when I didn’t even know you were gone. I looked for you, and I knew that there was something missing even though I didn’t know what was missing. But…” She swallows.

“But?” Sora prompts.

“But I like Riku too,” she blurts, feeling her face flush. “I knew he was gone, and I worried about him, and I didn’t want to think that he was gone forever, and I wanted to see him again. I don’t know if that makes me selfish or something, but I care about you both. And you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. And if you want then we can pretend this didn’t happen. Sorry. You’re tired, I shouldn’t be making you think about all this.”

“Hey, hey,” Sora says, reaching over to clasp her hands with his own. She looks down at their joined hands. Even though they’re still around the same height, Sora’s hands are bigger than hers now. “Kairi. Look at me.” She does, and he takes a deep breath. “I am tired,” he admits. “But that doesn’t change what I already know. That you and Riku are both precious to me.”

She turns her head away. “I’m glad that you still think of us as your friends,” she manages to say. “Even after being away for so long.”

He laughs. “It hasn’t been so long to me! It feels like just a few weeks since we’ve seen each other, even though it’s been far more than that.” He pauses, and she looks at the rose bush that they’re sitting next to. She should have cast herself into it, instead of starting this discussion, something that they never would have needed to talk about if she wasn’t so selfish.

“Kairi,” Sora says again, soft, and she can’t not look at him. “I like you too. And…” A strange expression crosses his face, something she doesn’t know how to label.

“And?” she asks.

“I don’t know how to say it, besides how I just did,” Sora mumbles. “You and Riku… I care about you both. I can’t – I can’t put one of you above the other, and I feel the same way about you both, and –” He cuts himself off.

“Sora,” Kairi says slowly, looking at him. Now he’s the one who’s staring at their joined hands. “Are you trying to say… that… you _like_ like Riku? And me?”

“I guess so,” Sora agrees, nodding once. He’s still looking at their hands, even though now Kairi can’t look away from his face.

“Both of us?” Kairi asks again, because she must be dreaming. This must all be some strange hallucination – the garden and the strange plants in it, the space ship that looks like it’s been built out of Lego, even Sora and Riku falling out of the sky.

“Both of you,” Sora repeats, and now he’s starting to blush. Kairi can’t help herself – she leans over again and smushes their faces together, more desperately than before. Sora makes a soft sound and this time his arms wrap around her, bringing her closer.

“Well,” Kairi says, when they’ve broken apart and she’s thinking about Sora’s teeth on her lower lip. “I guess there’s only one thing to do.”

“One thing?” Sora asks, tilting his head.

Kairi takes a deep breath. “We have to talk to Riku.”

Sora suddenly looks like he’s reconsidering everything.

“Come on,” she cajoles him. “What are we going to lose?”

“But,” Sora says, his hands forming fists. “What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

“What if,” Kairi says breathlessly. “He does?”

* * *

Riku sleeps for the next two days. The King and Queen reassure both of them that he will make a full recovery, but that he was badly injured, and that the Queen’s healing light hadn’t been able to help him as easily as she had helped Sora because of the shadows in his heart. Kairi had been concerned at that, but Sora had shrugged and said that Riku would probably always have them, and that didn’t change who he was.

The two of them spend the time exploring the castle, the grounds, and the small town just outside the castle gates. Without anything to fight, Sora shows off his other skills that he’s picked up along the way – jumping high into the air, casting magic, using two Keyblades at once. He even teaches her fire, her first spell. When Kairi gets the fireball right, Sora doesn’t stop smiling for two whole hours.

It’s an adventure. It’s something to call their own, and it’s a cooldown period, a way for both of them to start coming to terms with how things are now. As well as trying to come up with an explanation that they can give to Sora’s parents. And Riku’s parents. And Kairi’s father. And everyone on the islands. Sometimes it feels like such a lost cause that they should simply ask King Mickey if they can live here from now on, but Sora wants to see his parents again, and Kairi can’t imagine losing her father. She’s already done that once, and it’s not an experience she wants to repeat if she has a choice. So they try to cobble something together. Sora says that they should wait until Riku is awake to have his own input, while Kairi wants a plan to present to him. Surely, he wants to go home as well, and as soon as possible.

They’re in the castle when King Mickey comes to find them. Kairi is reading one of the books from the library while Sora is hopping around the gardens in front of her, trying to practise some move that she doesn’t quite understand but that he wants to get the hang of.

“Heya Kairi and Sora,” King Mickey says cheerfully. Kairi carefully closes her book, but Sora is in the middle of a handstand and loses his balance, falling flat on his face.

“Ow…” he says, sitting up and rubbing his nose.

“Are you okay?” Kairi asks him.

“Not really!” Sora says cheerfully. “Hey Kairi, now you can practise your cure for real!”

She frowns at him but summons her Keyblade. Queen Minnie had attended their impromptu teaching session yesterday, but there hadn’t been any injuries for her to test it on. She focuses on the deep light, and the coolness of the healing magic, and lifts her Keyblade. The taste of mint spreads through her mouth as the spell chimes over Sora.

“Yes! You did it,” Sora cheers, racing around her in a circle. “Great job!”

“Thanks,” Kairi beams. “What’s going on, King Mickey?”

“Riku’s just woken up,” Mickey says. “He’s askin for ya!”

Kairi exchanges a look with Sora. “We’ll go right away,” Sora promises.

“Lead the way,” Kairi says. King Mickey nods, and turns back towards the castle.

On their way there Sora catches her hand. She squeezes his palm slightly and he smiles at her, but it’s smaller than his usual grin.

“He’ll be fine,” Kairi says quietly.

“I don’t doubt the Queen’s abilities,” Sora whispers back. That’s not what she meant and he knows it, but he drops her hand and catches up to the King, asking him about a statue they’re passing by. Kairi rubs her face and walks.

“Don’t be too rambunctious in there,” King Mickey warns as they reach a door. “Minnie has checked him over, but he’s still on bed rest for the rest of today. Tomorrow he can start exploring the grounds with both of ya.”

“Thank you,” Kairi says, but Sora is already ducking into the room. She follows him, heart in her mouth. She’s had a few days to get used to the reality where Sora likes her back, but that doesn’t mean that Riku will too. They spent some time together in the World That Never Was, but they were always fighting – there wasn’t time for much heartfelt conversation. Does he even consider them friends anymore?

Riku is sitting up in the bed, a bandage wrapped around his arm, all the way to the shoulder. He’s wearing something loose that could be pyjamas, but Kairi isn’t too sure – just that it’s not clothes that she’s ever seen Riku in before.

“Sora,” Riku says, smiling softly at the other boy. His eyes light on her when she enters and he blinks, clearly surprised. “Kairi? You’re here too?”

Her heart tumbles, but Sora speaks before she can try to start to come up with anything. “Of course she’s here,” he says, puzzled. “Why wouldn’t she be?

“Yeah,” Riku says. “It’s just strange…” He shakes his head. “Every time I tell myself to not be surprised by anything else, but then I still am. Sorry. I still feel a little weird.”

“It’s okay,” Kairi says, sitting down in the chair next to him. Sora sits on the edge of Riku’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

Riku lifts his arm, the one that Kairi remembers being broken during the fight. “Weird,” he repeats, laughing. “Remember when I broke my arm in third grade? I had my arm in a cast for over a month. And here, I wake up and it’s gone. I know it’s magic, but still.”

“We’ve been exploring all around this world!” Sora says cheerfully. “We found some sewers, and I showed Kairi some skateboarding tricks, and we played fruitball –”

“Wait a second,” Riku cuts in. “How long have you been here?”

“This is our third day,” Kairi tells him. “You were sleeping for a while.”

“Yeah, it was ages,” Sora says, huffing. “If Kairi hadn’t been here, I don’t know what I would have done!”

“Oh,” Riku says, bringing a hand up to put on his head. “I thought I’d only been asleep for a few hours.”

“It was a bit longer than that,” Kairi confirms.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sora says. “But hey, Riku, if you’re feeling alright then there’s something we have to ask you.”

“Sora,” Kairi says, unsure if she wants to chide him or not. If she was just by herself then she’s not sure how long it would have taken to coax herself into asking.

“I should be fine to answer,” Riku frowns. “Why? What is it?”

Sora scratches the back of his neck. “Well, you know, Kairi and I have had time to talk over the last few days. About a lot of things. And. Hmm.” He looks at Kairi. She resists the urge to sigh – so he’s going to bring it up but then make her go to all the trouble of asking?

Riku is looking between them, growing more obviously concerned as the moments trickle by. “It’s fine,” Kairi tells him. “Everything’s fine. It’s not serious – well, not in the way you’re thinking.” She takes a deep breath. “Riku. Like Sora says, we’ve had some time to talk things over. And think about where we want to go from here. What I’m trying to say is that… we like you.”

“A lot!” Sora chimes in.

Riku’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Well… I like you too?” he says. “You’re both my friends.”

“No,” Kairi says, resisting the urge to smack her forehead. “We _like_ like you.”

“ _Like_ … like…” Riku says, something like panic creeping into his eyes.

“And we like each other,” Sora says, patting Riku’s leg. “Kairi’s a great kisser!”

Kairi does smack her forehead then. “Sora! Ugh. Riku, ignore him. What we’re trying to say is, well… I like you and Sora, and Sora likes me and you. And we’d like to know if you liked either of us back. In a kissing sort of way.”

“A kissing sort of way?” Sora asks. “What does that even mean?”

“It _means_ ,” Kairi says, persisting even though this conversation has not gone how she had thought it would, “that I want to know if Riku wants to kiss either of us.”

“I–” Riku clears his throat. “I’m.” He sits there and very obviously shuts his mouth.

“You don’t have to answer right away if you don’t want to,” Kairi says, softer. “We did just kind of drop this on your head when you’re probably not feeling very well. We can talk about other things if you’d like. Like Sora’s absolutely stupid plan to reintroduce both of you back to everyone at home.”

“It’s not that bad!” Sora protests. “You need to hear it anyway Riku, you need to tell Kairi that it will work.”

“Wait a second,” Riku says. “Wait just a second.”

“Sora wants you both to drop in from the sky in the middle of the monthly market and pretend that you have no memories of the last two years,” Kairi says hurriedly. “That’s not going to work!”

“You’re oversimplifying it,” Sora butts in. “You have to mention the magic!”

“Guys,” Riku tries to say.

“And then how are you going to explain the magic?” Kairi asks Sora. “Oh yeah, we learned that in the last two years that we don’t remember, don’t ask us any more questions about it!”

“ _Sora and Kairi!_ ” Riku yells. Kairi blinks at him and Sora shuts up. Riku runs a shaky hand through his hair. “Guys. Can we calm down for a second please.”

“I’m calm,” Sora says immediately.

“I’m also calm,” Kairi says, wondering if she can kick Sora’s legs from this side of the bed.

“Great. That’s great.” Riku swallows.

“Does that mean you already know?” Sora asks, leaning forward. Kairi looks at Riku; his cheeks are steadily growing redder.

“I know,” Riku confirms. Sora leans even closer. “I – Sora do you have to lean on me like that?”

“Sorry,” Sora says. “But Kairi kissed me first, so I want to kiss you first. If you want me too.”

“I think he does,” Kairi says, starting to smile. Riku is now cherry red, and pointedly looking everywhere but Sora. “Is that right, Riku?”

Riku makes a half cut off sound. “Y-yeah. That’s right.”

Sora doesn’t need any more prompting before he swoops down and kisses Riku. Kairi laughs as both of them flail slightly over each other, both clearly unsure where to put their hands. Sora leans back up, looking very satisfied with himself.

Kairi holds herself very still, until Riku looks at her and holds out his arm, tilting his head. She carefully moves to sit on the edge of his bed too, and his arm comes to rest around her waist. She leans against his shoulder and Riku carefully presses a kiss against her forehead.

“I… like both of you too,” Riku says slowly. “Like as in _like_ like.”

Kairi laughs. “Yeah, I think we got that. Can we stop saying _like_ like now, the whole word is starting to sound weird.”

“Like, I know what you mean,” Sora says. There’s a pause, and then all of them laugh.

“Come here,” Riku says to Sora, and then they’re all huddled together on Riku’s bed. Kairi puts her arm over Sora’s shoulders and Sora encircles her back. Sora leans his head against her and Kairi presses her lips to the crown of his head. Riku is looking at her, and she’s looking back – at his cyan eyes, the dip of his chin, his cheeks which are red, as if she’s scraped paint across them.

“What now?” Kairi mumbles. Sora presses his face against her neck, letting out a sigh.

“We don’t need to figure it all out now,” he says, haltingly. “We can figure it out as we go, right?”

“That’s your answer for most things,” Riku says wryly. “But… I think you’re right, on this. We can learn what works. As long as we’re all open with each other, then I don’t see why we can’t just… figure things out.” He lets out a long breath. “I can’t believe you two came in here and surprised me with all this.”

Kairi snuggles deeper into their hold. Sora smells like the dirt he was rolling around in this morning and Riku smells acidic, tingly bits of magic still clinging to his skin. It wasn’t so long ago that she thought that she might not see either one of them ever again. Now, having both of them say that they like like her, she never wants to wake up from this perfect dream.

“So, about the plan,” Sora starts, and Kairi and Riku groan in sync.


End file.
